Nov
27
Brummer not seeking re-election
Filed Under Criminal Defense, Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
Miami-Dade Public Defender Bennett Brummer (above), who has held the office since 1977, will not seek re-election, according to a story in the Miami Herald.
”I’ve been thinking about [retiring] for many years. I wanted to leave when the office was at its strongest,” he said.
Rumpole at Justice Building Blog offers some commentary about Brummer and some of the grumblings he’s heard on his blog from assistant PDs.
Nov
27
Video game critic faces ethics hearing
Filed Under Disciplinary Actions, Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
Miami attorney Jack Thompson (left), who has campaigned against violence in video games, is in front of the Florida Bar this week for an ethics hearing about his professional conduct in pursuing the gaming industry, according to a post on GamePolitics.
Thompson, who is something of a super villian to gamers, tried unsuccessfully to get the video game Bully banned and was even immortalized as a character in a version of the Mortal Kombat game. 
Nov
14
Crist to consider 11th Circuit nominees
Filed Under Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
The Judicial Nominating Commission has submitted six names to Gov. Charlie Crist to consider for the 11th Circuit vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Jorge J. Perez.
Rumpole at the Justice Building Blog has the list of contenders.
Nov
12
Miami prosecutor wins award
Filed Under Awards, Miami-Dade, U.S. District Court | Leave a Comment
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Gregorie has been named the country’s most outstanding federal prosecutor by the National Association of Former U.S. Attorneys (We figure their membership rolls have spiked since George W. Bush has been in office), according to a story in the Miami Herald. Gregorie, who is prosecuting the Liberty City Seven, was the prosecutor who indicted Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. [Link via Southern District Blog]
Nov
9
Families sue diaper maker
Filed Under Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
Two South Florida families are suing Proctor & Gamble for using pictures of their children for the company’s Luvs diaper packages, according to a report on MSNBC.
Miami attorney David Shenkman is representing both of the families. One of the mothers didn’t know that her child’s photo had been used until she saw a picture of him on a package of diapers while grocery shopping, the story said. Her son, Malik Lubin, had participated in an open casting call but the family had never heard back.
“What’s interesting is that the two families don’t know each other, they’ve never met before, the children have never met before and some people have referred to them as the Luv brothers,” Shenkman said.
According to a story in the Detroit News the families have asked for $500,000 each to settle. The suit alleges unjust enrichment and invasion of privacy.
Nov
8
Family sues to get school records
Filed Under Settlements, Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
The Miami-Dade School Board has to turn over its school security records as part of a lawsuit filed this week by the parents of a boy stabbed to death in a school bathroom in 2004, according to a story on CBS4.com.
Greg Schwartz, attorney for the parents of Jamie Gough, says the school board has 48 hours to turn the records over to a special master, the story said.
The parents reached a $1.7 million settlement with the school board in 2005 and have been paid $200,000 from the district and $500,000 from the board’s insurer. They need the records to get the rest of the money from the Legislature through a special claims bill, according to the CBS report.
Nov
8
Court overturns Ford Explorer verdict
Filed Under Torts, Product Liability, Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
Ford Motor Co. scored a victory Wednesday when the 3rd District Court of Appeal threw out a $60 million jury verdict, citing an error by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Roberto Pineiro, according to a story on Law.com.
Pineiro should not have allowed testimony alluding to previous rollover accidents during the trial over a fatal crash involving a Ford Explorer, the story said. Lance Crossman Hall, 17, was killed during a 1997 accident when he was thrown out of his vehicle after it rolled over four times.
The appeals panel set aside the jury’s verdict and remanded the case for a new trial.
Pineiro “never inquired into the general characteristics of the other accidents,” [Judge Angel A. Cortiñas]wrote. “Here, throughout the trial, numerous references were made to other cases without laying a foundation for substantial similarity.”
Plantation attorney Richard M. Mogerman, who represents Hall’s father, told Law.com: “Everybody always likes the opportunity to do something a little better the second time around, but this is a little disappointing.”
More on the case, including a link to the DCA opinion, at South Florida Lawyers.
Nov
8
Wage-and-hour suits on the rise
Filed Under Miami-Dade, U.S. District Court | 1 Comment
Miami attorney Jared Beck has an interesting post on wage-and-hour lawsuits at his blog, Magic City Harvard Lawyer.
Beck wonders what is behind the increase in these suits. The Southern District of Florida now leads the nation in these suits, according to a Daily Business Review article cited in the blog post. Beck writes:
The bottom line is that in an overheated economy, regulatory compliance typically takes a back seat for businesses keen on rapidly seizing perceived opportunities and muscling out would-be competitors looking to get in on the action. “Overheated” surely describes the Florida real estate market in the past few years, and perhaps it describes the Florida economy more generally as well, but looking back a decade or two.
Nov
6
Miami-Dade PD honored
Filed Under Awards, Miami-Dade | Leave a Comment
The Miami-Dade Public Defender’s office won the Clara Shortridge Foltz Award for its work on behalf of indigent clients, the Miami Herald reported.
The award is given annually by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
Nov
5
Condo buyers want out
Filed Under Real Estate, Miami-Dade | 1 Comment
The lawsuits from condo buyers who want out of their purchase contracts continue to pile up, according to a story in the Miami Herald. [Link via South Florida Lawyers]
Robert H. Cooper, an Aventura attorney who filed two suits against Miami developer The Related Group, says developers caused the problems by signing contracts with people who shouldn’t have qualified for loans.
“They were, across the board, signing contracts with purchasers they knew did not have the ability to consummate the transaction,” Cooper said.
Miami lawyer Susan Mortensen, who is representing developers, said the buyers are “profiteers,” not victims.
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